By Melissa Peralta, Editor-in-Chief
The 2016-17 freshman class was surprised to learn that they had a new graduation requirement previous years didn’t have; they now needed 40 hours of volunteer hours in order to graduate in 2020. Despite the administration’s lack of preparation for this new requirement, from the loss of students’ hours to the absence of formal submission of hours, this requirement is still standing strong four years later. Required volunteer hours are ridiculous for the administration to demand of their seniors who didn’t have the means to complete them from the beginning.
One big problem with the implementation of the volunteer hour requirement is the mere fact that there was no formal way to inform counselors that students had fulfilled their hours until the 2017-18 school year. Even then, many students did not know where to go until the 2018-19 school year. This means that students had to hold onto paperwork for their hours for nearly two years before they even knew where to take them. Not only that, but the lack of an official form meant students didn’t know how to properly verify their completion of hours.
While the district’s goal may have been to encourage students to get involved in their community, required volunteer hours are not the way to go about it. When volunteering is required, it leaves a bad taste in students’ mouths and can deter them from future volunteer work.
“I’m not opposed to [volunteer hours] or anything… but I feel like making it a requirement for [students] to complete hours kind of makes them not want to do it,” senior Heidi Avalos said. “It’s like chores. When you are in that cleaning mood, it’s therapeutic… but once your parents tell you to do it, you lose your motivation.”
The volunteer hour requirement diminishes the integrity of the act. Volunteering is not truly volunteering if it’s not out of generosity. The entire motivation for volunteering on its own is to give back to the community without any benefit or any gain. It’s a selfless action. When it’s required, there’s no compassion. The volunteer is simply doing what they need to get what they want.
Oftentimes students just don’t have the means to get volunteer opportunities. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 61.1% of families have two working parents. This means many students are on their own for transportation as students cannot legally drive until about junior or senior year. They can’t get themselves to volunteer opportunities until they are an upperclassmen a fair amount of the time.
There’s no integrity in required volunteer hours. The warm feeling from giving back to the community is nonexistent when there’s no other choice but to do it. Required volunteer hours are ridiculous and oxymoronic.
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